Beware the Frozen Heart
by ScarletSutcliff
Summary: Elsa. Princess of Arendelle, conjurer of ice, seeker of vengeance. After being sent away by her parents and learning of their dark past, she's out for blood. With only the help of the strange voice in her head and the prince of power lust, she's going to take back what's hers. Revenge is a dish best served cold. It's no wonder everyone is warning to beware the frozen heart.
1. Chapter 1

Elsa attempted to keep from shaking as her the horse trotted down the frozen path. Late fall snow was expected. Small blizzards, however, were not.

The young princess was not shaking because she was cold; she was shaking because the power welling inside her stirred differently than it usually did. Instead of flowing freely through her like the late autumn drizzles, it swirled as violently as the blizzard around them.

Her father sat atop the horse next to her, coddling Elsa's unconscious sister in his arms. _This is my fault, _Elsa thought, letting a tear slip down her cheek _I did this to her._

…

"Do you wanna build a snow man?" Anna hummed. Elsa opened her eyes slightly and smiled. If Anna was good at one thing, it was getting her way. Before she could even stretch, Anna whisked her down the stairs and into the ball room, Elsa hushing her hyper-active sister all the while.

"Do the magic! Do the magic!" Anna giggled. Elsa obeyed, creating small swirling snowflakes in between her fingers. She looked at Anna. Elsa never would grow tired of seeing her sister's amazed expression as she began to create this winter wonderland. Without another word, she thrust her fingers upward and painted the room white with the particles of frozen flurries.

"This is amazing!" Anna giggled, and so their fun begun. Soon enough a white blanket covered the floor. Elsa's favorite part of these nights were building snowmen. She didn't know why, but she felt connected to them somehow. Maybe because they were created from her own snow and ice, they were almost like children to her. Tonight's snowman was named Olaf; he enjoyed warm hugs, ironically.

Anna's favorite activity was jumping across Elsa's frozen plateaus as she created them. Elsa never enjoyed this. Anna would always jump too quickly or too high and it spent Elsa to make the snow hills so quickly. Tonight wasn't any different. She was already tired from being woken up at the crack of dawn to play and yet her sister had more energy than ever. She jumped from steep to steep, laughing as if it were the easiest thing in the world.

"Catch me, again!"

"Wait, slow down!" Elsa continued to catch her sister but something in the back of her mind seemed to whisper…

_Let her fall._

Elsa stumbled backwards, slipping on her own ice. That was something she had never done. She reached out to create something for Anna to land on but it was too late. She had fallen too low and her magic was aimed strait at her head. There was a split second when Elsa knew she shouldn't shoot… but she did anyway. Anna fell to the ground, rolling across a pile of snow as she did. Elsa ran to her sister and held her in her arms. As soon as she touched her, a section of her hair turned deathly white. She cried for their parents, moments later they bust through the doors. Their expressions were sheer terror.

"Elsa, what have you done? This is getting out of hand!" called her father as the couple rushed forwards, scooping Anna out of her sisters arms before she could do any more harm.

"It was an accident!" she said, "I'm sorry Anna."

"She's ice cold," whispered her mother. She knowingly looked at her husband, his face almost as pale as the snow around them. He nodded.

"I know where we have to go."

…

"Elsa," her father scolded, finally taking a moment to look at her. He had always hated crying, or showing any sign of weakness for that matter. She whipped her cheeks, finding that the small rivers had turned to frozen streams. The realization caused the storm around them to hasten.

"Please, help my daughter!" her father called. Elsa stayed by her mother's side. She had no idea where they were or who her father was talking to, all she knew is that as soon as she entered this place, the storm had ceased entirely. A low rumbling was emitted from the hills as several dozen small boulders rolled towards them. The opened up, one by one, revealing tons of tiny trolls.

"It's the king!" echoed throughout the trolls. A path was made and through it came what looked like a troll chief.

"Your Majesty," he said in a raspy voice, "Born with the powers or cursed?" The king hesitated, glancing at his queen before answering.

"Born," he finally said, "and they're getting stronger." The chief reached for Anna, folding his hand across her forehead.

"You are lucky it wasn't her heart. The heart is not so easily changed, but the head can be persuaded."

"Do what you must."

"I recommend we remove all magic, even memories of magic to be safe, but don't worry, I'll leave the fun," he said, taking each memory of Anna's and manipulating it so that every late night snowball fight, every ballroom snowman building, and every magical mitten-worthy evening were just simple childhood snow days. Mundane to a conjurer of ice. "She will be okay."

"But she won't remember I have powers?" Elsa finally spoke up.

"It's for the best," answered her father.

"Listen to me, Elsa. Your power will only grow stronger. There is beauty in it, but also great danger. You must learn to control it. Fear will be your enemy."

"No," the king interrupted, "We'll protect her. She can learn to control it, I'm sure. Until then, lock the gates. We'll reduce the staff. We will limit her contact with people and keep her powers hidden from everyone, including Anna."

…

That very night, the maids was ordered to move Elsa's possessions into a new room. A room on the opposite side of the castle. There Elsa spent many years trying to learn the ways of her magic. Unfortunately, she was never able to understand them, either were her parents. Their best advice was to conceal it, don't feel it. The gloves she wore became her safe place, never to be removed. Her self-taught sorcery was slowly becoming more and more malicious. Eventually, she began to shy away from the touches of others for fear of hurting them. It was time to seek help.

"We don't know what to do. Her power is getting worse and—"

"Worse?" the troll chief, whose name Elsa would come to know was Pabbie, interrupted. "Her powers are not getting worse, they are expanding! You were supposed to help her learn how to use them, not conceal them. Now they are waiting like an active volcano. They seem to rest dormant, but as soon as those gloves come off, they'll erupt," he paused, looking Elsa strait in the eyes, "and they will destroy everything in their path."

"No!" Elsa shrieked, "They won't, they can't! I'll keep the gloves on. I'll stay inside the castle."

"Elsa! The longer you put off controlling them, the harsher the consequences will be! You need to learn how to use them!"

"Why don't you teach her then!" yelled the king, "We don't understand them, but you seem too! Let her live here. Teach her." There was a heavy silence in the air. Pabbie was the one to break it.

"Fine," he said, looking around at the faces of the royal family. "I will teach the girl."

"No," Elsa whispered, "No! Father, Mother! You can't leave me here!"

"It's for the best Elsa," said her father.

"Mother?" she breathed. She simply nodded her head in agreement. She silently began to weep.


	2. Chapter 2

"Come Elsa," said Pabbie. His voice was full of strength to make up for Elsa's lack thereof. She went to wipe away her tears when she realized they were frosted to her face. The last time that happened was the night it all started. The seemingly innocent night that sparked Elsa's magical downfall. Pabbie turned to look at her. When he did, Elsa noticed the immense amount of wrinkles in his stony flesh. His back was hunched as if carrying the burdens of a thousand worriers. He hobbled to her and put a hand on her cheek. Warmth spread from his fingertips across her cheeks, melting the frosty stains.

"Thank you," she sniffled, feeling oddly more comfortable than she had since she had slept in the same room as her sister. She remembered this feeling. It was love. Why is it that a smile from Anna or a simple caress from Pabbie could feel so warm, yet even the longest hug from her parents felt colder than any ice she had ever touched?

"It's all going to be okay, Elsa. We are all here to help you. You will master your skills, then you may return to Arenellle," Pabbie cooed. She smiled slightly when he referred to her power as a skill instead of a curse or a nuisance like her parents would when she accidentally frozen something. He took her small hands in his, "You can leave anytime you feel unhappy or homesick."

Elsa smiled. She wasn't necessarily homesick, at least not yet. He parents had only just left and now it almost felt like a relief. Sure, she missed them. Anna too. But they had promised to visit and write. They would tell Anna the true reason why Elsa had left. Her memories would be returned by the trolls and she would grow up in a world knowing about magic yet experiencing none. A world Elsa wished terribly to live in.

"Come, I will introduce you to my family, I hope that someday you can consider them yours as well."

She met dozens of trolls, some of which's names she remembered but mostly didn't. They strolled through the village, Pabbie explaining their history and customs, when it happened.

"Look out! Get out of the way!" said a voice, sounding as if it were getting closer with every syllable. A sleigh barreled through the path knocking over everything in its wake, including Elsa.

"Ow!" she yelled, falling into the dirt. The sleigh pulled to a halt.

"I am so sorry!" the same voice said, pulling Elsa from the ground hastily. She felt his hands before she saw his face. They weren't trolls hands that was for sure. They held the same warmth, if not more but something was nostalgically familiar. His hands were made of flesh. "Woah, um." He muttered.

"Kristoff, this is Elsa. She will be staying with us for a while," Pabbie informed, "Elsa, this is Kristoff. He will be watching where he is going from now on." Pabbie shot Kristoff a knowing scowl. The blond boy looked down and blushed. "Kristoff, I have some lose ends to tie up before the days end. Please show Elsa to a spare room. Make her feel at home." And with that, Elsa's only lifeline walked off.

"Um," Kristoff muttered. Elsa was silent, "Elsy, was it?"

"It's Elsa," she muttered. The odd animal that was leading the boys sled looked up at her with a happy smile. Then he laid his big, wet tongue on her already dirty face. "Ew! Control your moose, would ya?"

"Moose?!" Kristoff asked, looking both baffled and offended simultaneously. His creature shared his expression. "Reindeer are nothing like moose! Isn't that right Sven?" The reindeer nodded in agreement.

"Well, whatever it is, tell it to keep his mouth organs to himself."

Elsa must have been getting on Kristoff's last nerve because suddenly he snapped, "Why are you even here anyways?" An awkward silence wafted in the atmosphere.

"When I was little I shot a spike of ice into my sister's head and we brought her here to heal her. Since then my magic has been getting more powerful and it's starting to destroy everything I touch," her eyes averted his, "I came here to find help, before I become a monster."

"Wait a minute, ice spikes? Magic? What are you talking about?"

"I was born with the power to conjure and control ice and snow," she said as if it were the simplest thing on the earth.

"Really?!" he asked, his eyes filled with the amazement that filled Anna's when she first learned of her magic, "Can… can I see it?" Elsa blushed, although she was unsure of why.

"I wear these gloves, "Elsa said, pulling lightly on the finger tip of one of them, "To protect everyone from the ice. I can't control it."

"That's what you came here for, right? To learn how to control it?"

"Yes, but I'm not ready. I-"

"Hey," Kristoff interrupted in such a caring way that it almost confused Elsa, "You're going to have to take them off someday."

…

"Okay," Elsa mutter, slowing pulling then letting go the end of her glove, "Okay."

"It's fine," Kristoff said, watching eagerly from the side of the lake they now sat by. Kristoff was very persistent in getting Elsa to show him her magic, when she finally complied they both decided that it would be safest to remove the gloves away from the rest of the village, just in worst case scenario.

_It's just like a bandage, _Elsa thought to herself, _you just have to rip it off. _And with that the gloves were removed. Nothing happened at first and Elsa was almost relieved. Then she felt the swirling vortexes of wintery flakes knitting between her fingers. Her heart rate sped up as she held them away from herself and Kristoff.

"Woah," Kristoff muttered, standing to admire the view. He moved in closer than Elsa was comfortable with.

"No!" she shouted at him. She pushed her hands out and away from him. Beams of frosted particles shot from her hands onto the lake top, freezing it instantly. She watched in horror as the ice spread from the shore outwards. She hugged her hands to her chest to prevent further mayhem.

"That," Kristoff said with wide eyes, a smile creeping onto his pale face, "was amazing!"

"It was indeed," said Pabbie, emerging from his hiding place behind a tree. How long had he been there watching? Elsa blushed at the embarrassing thought. "Congratulations Elsa, you're first lesson is complete."


End file.
